


Bruce

by queervulcan



Series: Blossomed [2]
Category: Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-03
Updated: 2015-05-03
Packaged: 2018-03-28 21:42:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3870748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queervulcan/pseuds/queervulcan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bruce and Natasha need to get it together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bruce

Bruce likes to pretend that he isn't a big softie, but Natasha knows better.

She has seen the way his eyes light up whenever someone brings up his field speciality. She watches the way he works in a lab, as if the lab is an extension of his body, and if she were religious, his soul.

She knows that if he could, he would never sleep and run himself thin with coffee in order to always be working.

Bruce thinks she doesn't know, but Natasha knows that Stark labs are a way to vent the Big Man's anger. She also knows that Tony rarely lets anyone in there.

* * *

Bruce thinks that the people- the family- that surrounds him is either out of pity or a need to study him.

Natasha doesn't know how to convince him otherwise.

* * *

The first time Natasha saw him naked, literally and figuratively, it had been with the lights shut off.

She had trailed her fingertips over the scars on his chest, pressing butterfly kisses to the scars on his wrists and forearms. Bruce had been shivering below her, and she knew he was barely holding back.

The second time, they had been training, when he suddenly shifted back to Doctor Banner.

Natasha had been dodging him, and to see him change without warning actually made her pause.

When he lifted his sore body with a groan, he had blushed scarlet from his ears to his stomach.

Natasha had noticed distantly that he was as red as her hair.

When he had changed to Hulk, he had been naked, and as he changed back to Banner, he had more problems than just a few sore muscles.

Bruce had stammered and stuttered an apology, covering his privates with his hands. Natasha had laughed and shook her head.

Later, she would remember the way his back had been sturdy and straight, despite being in pain.

* * *

Natasha never really forgave Bruce for leaving after Ultron. He had told her they would run away together, but he had left her instead.

Natasha pretended that she wasn't afraid, that she didn't mind that he left to find himself again. To leave the monster he had become in New York.

And she didn't. And she still doesn't.

But then the other Avengers would quiet down, or they would go their separate ways, and the thoughts would come crowding in again.

_Was she not good enough again?_

When Tony asked why she kept breaking his wine glasses, she would scoff and remark that she pretended it was Mjölnir, and Tony would eyeball her, but let the matter drop.

It was a month later that she found her favorite candies on her bedroom pillow. She had been cautious for a week but when nothing happened, she had opened them. She had thought they had been a gift from Pepper, but instead the note inside was in Tony's distinctive, blocky handwriting.

_It'll hurt less some day._

When Natasha had angrily confronted Tony, he looked her in the eye and said, "Pepper."

When Natasha was adequately flustered, he had told her the story of how Pepper had almost died because of his mistakes.

Natasha had always thought Tony was nothing more than a shiny toy he had molded in his own labs. She felt guilty afterwards when she discovered he was a human being as well.

* * *

When Bruce had returned, all blunder and awkward laughs, Natasha had predictably exploded.

She had thrown a stun gun at his head, and without waiting for him to become the Big Guy, she had stomped away fuming.

Afterwards, everyone had tried talking to her - even Fury had bumbled a few words before scowling and storming away - telling her that Bruce just needed to recover from New York, but it wasn't until Steve sat down with her that she felt calm enough to listen.

He had told her that while Bruce had been wrong to leave her without warning, it was also wrong for Natasha to lash out at him instead of admitting she was afraid and angry. That it was wrong to be wasting time angry over something he needed mentally, when she could be in his arms speaking with him instead of brooding in her bedroom alone.

Natasha had sighed, and kicked Steve out of her room. But she had taken his advice to heart.

By the time Natasha had gotten around to sorting out her feelings, Bruce had looked like someone just told him his favorite puppy had died.

When Natasha had walked into his lab, Tony looked up before shutting down his work and scurrying away.

Bruce had looked at Natasha as if expecting the worst, and she wouldn't have needed to be a psychic to know what he was thinking.

Bruce had pushed back from his chair, and reached out a hand to Natasha, as if wanting to touch her but afraid of tainting her.

Instead, he had whispered her name.

_Natasha._

* * *

They were never really perfect after he had returned, but as Steve had once commented, it was better to not be perfect and together than to miss 60 years.

Though he had never mentioned it afterwards, Natasha knew he really had loved Peggy and Bucky, even if it wasn't the same type of love.

* * *

Bruce still pretended he understood what Natasha was saying when she ranted about monsters and assassins and weapons that needed to be updated.

Natasha knew Bruce had no clue what she was saying most times, but that he loved to see her so animated.

* * *

 

One time, when Natasha had been testing out the new toys that Tony had made, Tony had walked into her line of fire with no suit to protect him.

Tony had had the guts to threaten her when she had guns in her hands, all about how she would be murdered in her sleep if she hurt Bruce.

Natasha had laughed at his zeal and remarked wryly, one corner of her mouth turning up into a smirk, that if anyone was likely to get hurt, it would be Natasha.

Tony had stopped his half-joking threats, and stepped closer to her. He had looked her in the eye and told her that he wasn't talking about physical scars.

Natasha had to look away at the look in Tony's eye.

Later, Natasha had discovered that Bruce had had a similar talk with Steve. They had giggled at their sheer nerve, but Natasha knew he was relieved to have a family to look out for him.


End file.
